After weeks of workers’ complaints they are at risk because of lack of coronavirus protections, Amazon says it will deploy face masks and temperature checks for workers by next week.
The company says it will provide protective gear to staff at all its U.S. and European warehouses, in addition to all Whole Foods stores, by early next week.
PREVIOUSLY ON BOING BOING:
• Amazon workers have been infected with coronavirus in 10 warehouses across the U.S.
• Amazon says employee in Seattle has coronavirus and remains in quarantine
Reuters reported the news first:
The company, which has reported virus cases among warehouse staff and faced several demonstrations, said it would start testing hundreds of thousands of employees a day for fevers. It told Reuters it would use no-contact forehead thermometers at site entrances and send anyone registering more than 100.4 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) home.
All locations will have surgical masks available by early next week, after millions were ordered weeks ago, according to Amazon. Particle-blocking N95 masks it has ordered will instead be donated to medical workers or sold at cost to government and healthcare organizations, it said.
The company will also use machine-learning software to monitor building cameras and determine whether employees are staying at safe distances during their shifts, or whether they are often huddled too close together.
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Exclusive: Amazon to deploy masks and temperature checks for workers by next week
[Jeffrey Dastin/Reuters]